Taking an action frequently seen in his works to the extreme, Rudolf Stingel has covered walls and floors of Palazzo Grassi with fire-resistant carpeting that reproduces an Oriental rug motif, a citation of the famous sofa in Freud’s study. The interior of the Venetian palazzo is turned into a huge padded space featuring an optical effect, both alienating and comforting. Visitors lose themselves in the study of the few works on the walls to embark on the inner journey that the artist wishes to stimulate, towards re-appropriation of our imagination and the abstract reinvention of our inner self. Roberto Zancan